Hacking to help

Each year, Lincoln Financial hosts a 24-hour coding challenge where high-school and undergraduate students have an opportunity to solve technology-related problems currently affecting a Greensboro-based nonprofit organization. Under the guidance of Lincoln's own veteran developers, they have the chance to showcase their coding and programming capabilities and stretch their skill sets. Hear from Ken Solon, EVP, Chief Information Officer & Head of Digital, about the importance of codeLinc.

codeLinc 5.0

Ken Solon, EVP, Chief Information Officer & Head of Digital, shares an important message about codeLinc.

Coding for the community

Lincoln Financial believes that contributing to our communities is both intrinsic to our values and our responsibility. Every year, codeLinc focuses on a different charitable organization or cause. The nonprofits Lincoln has helped through its codelinc challenge include:

Teachers Supply Warehouse — 2014

Out of the Garden — 2015

Junior Achievement — 2016

Guilford Food Network — 2017

Our 2017 challenge was to assist several nonprofit organizations tackling hunger in the Guilford area. The competitors developed solutions designed to align these organizations’ efforts, typically utilizing networking platforms where individual organizations and community members could share information related to donations, food requests and events.

codeLinc 4.0

Check out this video to see what last year’s event was like.

Continued growth

It’s a goal of codeLinc that the charitable organizations can expect to see lasting results from their participation. Below, the Executive Director and President of a twice-involved nonprofit speaks to the impact codeLinc has had on the success of his organization:

"As a nonprofit which has benefited from codeLinc, we are grateful for the advantages it has allowed us in volunteer and donor relations, marketing and social media. It is due in no small part to the generosity of Lincoln Financial and its people that we have become the largest food assistance program in the Piedmont Triad. We thank codeLinc and Lincoln for helping us, as we celebrate our 10th Anniversary fighting childhood hunger."

Don Milholin
Executive Director/President
Out of the Garden Project

Everyone benefits

codeLinc helps not only the community, but also the participants. While solving real-world problems, students gain exposure to Lincoln Financial — who we are and what we stand for. The competitors work with coaches from our own information technology organization, giving them an inside look at IT opportunities in the financial services industry. If participants are interested, Internship Development Program recruiters — as well as hiring managers — will be on-hand.

There are even more reasons to accept the challenge. The event features a variety of food, drink, rest areas, and themed activities. Students can even win cash prizes!

1st Place Entry:

$3,500.00

2nd Place Entry:

$1,000.00

3rd Place Entry:

$500.00

Technical Innovation Award:

$1,000.00

Potential for job opportunities

Attending codeLinc now can lead to employment with Lincoln Financial later. Below, a past participant explains how codeLinc led to his employment with the company:

"I had no idea the true importance of attending codeLinc 3 back in October 2016. While I’d been to several hackathons before, they had never been so focused around the community and individual development. Having IT specialists available as dedicated coaches provided a glimpse into the reality of the professional work environment. More than that, this event provided an insight into the company culture at Lincoln Financial. I got to experience Lincoln employees in a natural state — no corporate presentation or recruiting façade. Throughout the night, I met and befriended several Lincoln employees, many of whom were in management positions. Afterwards, I was approached with multiple employment opportunities, and within a week, I was invited to a final round interview. My positive first-hand experience with the company made it easy to accept my full-time position offer."